Page 118 of Paladin's Hell

Chapter 38

Paladin

As Shooter and I walk across the clubroom to the stairs leading to the bedrooms, it’s hard to prevent myself glancing toward the bar and the man whose voice I hear loudly disputing something with Pyro.

“This is going to hit the club hard,” Shooter says quietly, once we’re at the top and walking down the corridor toward my room.

“Too fuckin’ right, Brother.”

“Buster was the only one we ever had go bad back in Tucson.”

“Don’t forget Chrissy. She betrayed the club.”

I had forgotten her. We both had only been prospects then. Our involvement helping to bury the body. It had been a bad business. But somehow, as she was a club whore, her betrayal hadn’t hit us so badly. Not like a brother who’s earned his patch.

We’ve reached my door. It’s slightly ajar. I push it all the way open, Jay’s not inside. I frown slightly, I’d expected to find her waiting for me. I can’t recall having seen her downstairs. Surely if she’d been there, she’d have come straight over to greet me. Instead, all there is waiting for me is Bitch. As I approach the bed, she starts spitting.

“Whoa,” I hold out my hand carefully like I’ve watched Jay do. Bitch’s paw shoots out, missing my fingers by inches. “Fuck.”

Shooter looks from me to the cat. He grins, assessing the situation fast. “Want me to move her?”

Before I can warn him, he’s approached her. “Fuck. Fuckin’ animal!”

I pull him back, eyeing the bleeding scratches on the back of his hand. He puts it to his mouth and starts sucking.

“Best leave her be, Brother. Jay speaks cat and can move her.”

“Where is Jay?” he mumbles, eyeing his bloody skin, then sending a glare at Bitch.

“Here somewhere,” I answer, unconcerned. “Let’s go find her.”

Exiting the room under the watchful eye of Bitch, swearing I can see her grinning a feline smile of triumph, we walk back downstairs. I pause before taking the final steps, confirming that Prez has wasted no time cutting Taser from the rest of the brothers. Mace has appeared too, he’s staring morosely into a beer, avoiding the others. Must be hard to think a man you’ve called brother might have attempted to kill you. As I approach him, I slap his back. He nods at me in understanding.

“Have you seen Jay?” I ask.

“Lost your woman already?” Pyro barks a loud laugh.

“Sindy’s in the kitchen, she might be out there.” I nod thanks to Buzzard. That was where I was going to try next.

But she’s nowhere to be found. I even send a club girl to search in the Ladies’ bathroom. It’s only when there’s still no sign of her that I begin worrying. Returning to the clubroom, I start to question people. No one’s seen her. Dan, who’s been minding the bar all afternoon swears he hasn’t seen her come down the stairs. With a sheepish grin, he says he would have noticed such a pretty girl like her. I tamp down thoughts of why he’d been watching for her in my absence, but that’s not the important thing now.

“Your bathroom?” Shooter asks. She couldn’t be hiding there, could she? “I’ll go and look,” he offers.

“You had words?”

I answer Pyro. “She didn’t like being told where I was going was club business,” I admit.

“Perhaps she’s sulkin’. Kid might not have the right attitude to be an old lady,” Lizard suggests.

There’s no point in me getting angry, he might have a point if she’s hiding away rather than facing up to me.

“Come, let’s search outside.” The enforcer looks like he’d be grateful to have something to occupy him while we’re hanging around, waiting for information as to what Prez has drawn out of Taser. As each minute passes, I’m getting more and more concerned, I’m not going to turn any help down.

“Mace,” I begin, as we step out of the clubhouse. “Can’t see why she’d be out here. She might be young, but she’s never been one for childhood games. And especially not hide and seek. She’s not going to expose herself out in the open, and she wouldn’t be in any of the sheds, she doesn’t like the dark or being confined in a small place.”

“Don’t worry, Pal. She’s got to be here somewhere. Best to let no stone go unturned while we try to find her.” He pushes open the door to the barn where brothers store spare rides. Suddenly his eyes sharpen, and he quickens his pace, going over to a spot where a tarp lies on the ground. “Where’s my fuckin’ car?” he growls.

“Your car?”

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